Kal Moonheart Trilogy: Dragon Killer, Roll the Bones & Sirensbane (65 page)

‘Look at this!’ Kal called from up ahead.

Lula shook off her thoughts and went to look. It was a stone skull, carved on the side of a building block that was resting on the jungle floor, tangled in vines. The skull was stylised to look female, and swirls of hair were engraved around it.

Vuda

‘Inzec ruins,’ Kal said. ‘I didn’t spot any kind of structure above the trees on the walk around the island, so the temple must have collapsed. Aren’t Inzec temples usually pyramids?’

Lula nodded. ‘The temple to Vuda is supposed to be the tallest pyramid in the world. Maybe we’re not on the right island after all.’

An ear-piercing scream sounded from somewhere up ahead. Lula flinched, then drew her pistol.

‘Relax,’ Kal said. ‘You’ve seen off sea monsters, remember?’

Lula laughed nervously. ‘Briney? Oh, he’s just a big softie, really. Feed him and he’ll leave you alone. Vuda’s demons, on the other hand …’

‘Have you ever seen one?’ Kal asked.

‘No,’ Lula said. ‘And I don’t want to.’

‘Well, then don’t turn around,’ Kal said. ‘Because there’s one watching us right now!’

* * *

Lula felt the demon’s eyes cutting into the back of her neck like the point of a knife. She felt compelled to turn around—it was arguably more frightening
not
being able to see the creature that was about to kill her, tear the flesh from her bones, and eat her.

She turned.

The demon was sitting on a branch of a tree. It was winged, with glossy black feathers, a cruel hooked yellow beak and sharp pointed horns. Its burning orange eyes bore down on Lula as it emitted another stomach-churning inhuman wail.

Lula stared back at it until it shut up.

‘It’s an owl,’ she said.

It was indeed a very large, but very harmless-looking, owl. It's lustrous plumage and tufted ears would have given it a very frightening aspect at night.

‘I wonder what it tastes like,’ Kal said. ‘Shoot it, Lu.’

‘No,’ Lula said. She tucked her pistol back in her belt. ‘It may not be a flesh-eating demon, but it’s still sacred to Vuda.’

Kal shook her head. ‘Fine,’ she said. ‘I give up trying to cure you of your superstitious ways.’

In a better mood, they pushed on to the centre of the island. It was only a couple of miles, but the going was tough; it was noon by the time they emerged from the jungle and found themselves looking out over a sheer drop.

It wasn’t a cliff-edge; it was a top of a stone wall. A mosaic of crumbling blocks, ledges and walkways disappeared into swirling mists below them. ‘Have we come out on the roof of the temple?’ Kal wondered out loud. The view in front of them was also obscured by the humid clouds. ‘I don’t fancy trying to get down there without my climbing gear. Come on, let’s follow the edge and find another way down.’

There wasn’t another way down, though. They followed the wall for a good mile, making four left turns before they arrived back where they had started.

‘It’s a pit,’ Kal deduced. ‘A big square pit.’

‘No,’ Lula said, noticing the way the wall had a very slight slope to it. ‘It’s a pyramid. An inverted pyramid!’

The temple of Vuda, the largest pyramid in the world, except that it was built
below
the ground.

… place at the bottom of a deep stone oven.

‘The treasure’s here, Kal,’ Lula said, excitedly. ‘Maybe Che just threw it in. But how are we going to get down? We’ve not got the gear for this. I’ve not got the
energy
for this! I couldn’t find the strength to climb a ladder right now, let alone attempt to clamber down there.’

Kal stood chewing her lip for a few moments. ‘There is a way,’ she said, eventually.

Lula listened while Kal revealed her plan.

Was she crazy?
Lula was appalled. ‘No way, Kal,’ she said. ‘Just no! After all we’ve been through to get here, that’s the worst suggestion ever!’

III.v

The Lotus-Eaters

‘It’s the only way,’ Kal said, opening her satchel.

Lula could only watch in stunned silence. The mists closed in around them, penetrated only by the screams of the demon owls. Somewhere above them, the sun was almost at its highest point, heating up the temple of Vuda just like the oven it was described as in Che’s recipe book.

Kal took her cleaver in one hand and Lula’s pouch of Sirensbane in the other. She laid the bag on the flat stone of the temple wall, and began to mash it with the blunt back of her cleaver. Then she ripped open the bag, revealing the pile of crushed black crystalline shards.

‘Have you ever taken this much at once?’ she asked Lula. There must have been half a pound there.

Lula shook her head. ‘I saw a friend do it once. We never saw him again after that night, though. He must have … turned.’

Kal put her blade in the middle of the pile and dragged it to one side, creating two equal portions. ‘How about this much?’

Lula nodded. ‘Once.’

‘And what was it like?’

Lula spread her hands. ‘I don’t know. I can’t put it into words. It was … a rush. A thrill.’
And now that I think about it, it was one step from being turned into a mindless zombie.

‘I’ll tell you what it’s like,’ Kal said. ‘And I’ve only had a fraction of this amount. It’s like someone lights a fire in your soul; your body feels like it could run and jump and fight and fuck forever; your mind swells and opens, and every sense is amplified a thousand times.’

Lula licked her lips. The way Kal put it, she could almost taste the first hit. ‘Kal,’ she said. ‘We can’t go back down that road. Let’s just wait until the
Swordfish
gets here. They’ll have ropes and pulleys, and the crew can haul the treasure up.’

‘You want to share
everything
with the crew?’ Kal said. ‘I'm all for the pirate code, but let’s see how much there is before we start thinking about how much to share. We’ll go get the treasure now; the Sirensbane will make us strong enough to make the climb down and back, and our minds will be alert enough to find the easiest route. We’ll just bring back a handful of treasure for the time being; just one gold Inzec idol will be enough to live off for a year! Lula, just think: we can buy that shack on that remote island, stock up on food and drink, and spend our time lazing in the sun together.’

Lula was tempted by the gold, but she wasn’t thinking of the beach hut. She was wondering how many ships, cannon and crew she could hire. She was thinking of how she could reclaim Port Black for the Islanders. Surely Vuda would let her take the treasure, if she put it to good use in her name.

Could she persuade Kal to fight with her? Probably not; Kal was loyal and kept her promises, that was certain, but she had promised to help Lula, and Lula only. Kal would more likely hire an army to keep Lula
away
from Port Black, if that was what it took to keep her safe.

As Kal watched her, waiting for her response, Lula went to Kal’s bag and tore a page from Che’s recipe book. She wrote something on it, and tucked it carefully in the pocket of her shirt.

‘What’s that?’ Kal asked.

‘Just a note,’ Lula said, ‘to whoever finds our bodies.’

Then she touched her finger to her tongue, then dipped it in the Sirensbane. When it returned to her mouth, the effect was instantaneous: it was indeed as Kal had described: the Sirensbane was the spark, her tongue was the touch paper, and her heart was a bonfire that was about to ignite.

* * *

They climbed down into the misty darkness like two spiders down a downspout. Lula was not frightened by the vertiginous void, though. In fact, quite the reverse; She was exhilarated by the challenge, and revelled in the feeling of weightlessness as she dropped between ledges and crevices, her hands and feet seemingly barely touching the stone. Her limbs had a power that seemed unquenchable, and her eyes and mind could pick out every texture and relief on the wall. She would not fall; she was untouchable.

As the sun reached the highest point in the sky, it sent its rays directly down into the shaft, burning away the mist and revealing the bottom of the temple for the first time. The pyramid was five hundred feet deep, and at the lowest point was a small square of darkness. Was it water? It seemed to absorb the sun, rather than reflect it. Lula was eager to find out. Whereas before, she might have quailed at the thought of approaching the sanctum of a god, now she exulted in the prospect.

At the end of the age of the gods, Vuda had gathered the remains of her people and their gold, and brought them here to her temple, to protect them from the sea monsters that were wrecking their boats, and the dragons that were burning their villages. But the god of the monsters,
the Dragon
himself, had sniffed Vuda out, and descended on the Forbidden Island. To protect her people, Vuda had transformed herself into a field of black lotus flowers.
The Dragon
had feasted on the flowers, and succumbed to delirium and sleep, allowing Vuda’s people to escape.

It was the soporific effect of the flowers, as well as the wounds
the Dragon
received at the hands of Arcus as they fought in Amaranthium, that sent the god of monsters back to its nest in Vorpalore, where it still slept to this day. But not before it had killed all of the other gods—Arcus, Banus, Draxos, Mena, Whalo, Satos and the rest—and left humanity to struggle on in a world without immortal rule.

The population of the Auspice Islands grew back over time; the surviving Inzec tribes mixing with settlers from Nubara, Eldragoro and even from as far as Amaranthium. And local legends insisted that Vuda had survived her confrontation with
the Dragon
, for sometimes a black lotus flower would be spotted floating in the warm blue sea, or washed up on a white sandy beach.

Lula had never seen one herself.

Until now …

The bottom of the pyramid was indeed truncated by the surface of a pool: a square of water about ten yards across. But what gave it its unfamiliar texture was the hundreds of black flowers that floated upon it. Lula launched herself from the wall twenty yards above the pool and executed a perfect swan dive into the flowers. Kal splashed down to join her, and they trod water in the centre of the pool, breathing in the ethereal, intoxicating scent of the black lotus.

‘They smell divine,’ Kal said.

‘They are,’ Lula said. ‘They are the very essence of Vuda.’

‘Would she mind,’ Kal said, reaching out and plucking a long, pointed leaf from one of the flowers, ‘if we had a taste?’

‘
The Dragon
had a taste,’ Lula cautioned, ‘and it led to his downfall.’

‘
The Dragon
wasn’t high on Sirensbane,’ Kal retorted. ‘Now that we’re not climbing, my limbs are on fire! I need something to take the edge off.’

And before Lula could stop her, Kal had nibbled off the tip of the leaf. She threw her head back in delight and let loose a pleasurable moan. ‘Oh, Lu, you have to try it!’ Kal was looking around the dark pit and down into the black pool, seemingly marvelling at things only she could see. ‘The treasure, Lu, it’s here!’

Lula couldn’t see anything except rough-hewn stone walls and dark, inky water. But the ecstatic look on Kal’s face was all it took to make Lula reach for the lotus flower herself. Her thoughts were rushing through her drug-addled brain like lava cutting through ice, and it didn’t take much mental acrobatics to convince herself that Vuda
wanted
her to partake in the holy flower, through which the treasure—the means of Port Black’s salvation—would be revealed to her.

She crushed a lotus petal unceremoniously in her hand, and licked her palm.

The world changed.

The pent-up energy drained instantly out of Lula’s body, leaving her feeling relaxed and loose-limbed, yet still powerful and alert. It was an exquisite combination, and she felt her body and senses become one with the world around her. She was floating dreamily in a world of warm, yellow stone, shining black flowers and sparkling clear water. To Lula’s new eyes, the dirty shirt she wore was now a diaphanous gown, and her tangled black hair now fanned out across the water, glossy and straight. Kal too had been transformed. She was once more the supernatural creature that Lula had seen on the beach, her hair a red flame, her plain, open face transformed into one of otherworldly and mysterious beauty. Kal’s pale eyes were now shimmering sapphires, as deep a blue as the ocean.

But this time, Lula did not succumb to a wave of lust for her friend. Instead, she followed Kal’s eyes downwards to the bottom of the pyramid. Filling the apex below the water was an abundance of gold, pearls and gemstones: fabulous treasures in the form of idols, chalices and weapons, and jewel-studded medallions, rings and crowns. The booty lay on a bed of gold and silver coins, and black and white pearls.

‘We’re rich,’ Kal breathed.

‘
Port Black
is rich!’ Lula said. ‘This is too much, even for us, to spend ourselves.’

‘You’ll be Queen of the Islands,’ Kal said, swimming closer to Lula and slipping her arm around her waist.

Queen!
Appointed by Vuda herself.
Yes!
Lula could imagine it.

‘And I’ll be Queen of Amaranthium,’ Kal said, her excitement rising. ‘The Republic has had its day now. It’s ruined both my city and your islands. Between us, we’ll forge a new world.’

Lula nodded dreamily. If that was what her god wanted, so be it.

Kal slipped under the water and, with just a twist of her body, swam down to the treasure, as graceful as a siren. When she surfaced, she was holding a delicate golden crown in both hands. She placed the crown on Lula’s head.

‘My queen,’ Kal said.

Lula felt sick with joy.

III.vi

Chains

With a crown on her head, a golden sceptre in one hand and a cluster of gems swinging from silver ropes in the other, Lula bounded up the wall of the pyramid. She only had to touch her toes to the stone and flex her calves, and she was shooting skyward toward the sun. Kal was following close behind, but Lula didn’t wait for her at the top; she plunged on into the jungle. The temple and the island felt small and suffocating, and only the open sea was boundless enough to give her body the space and freedom it craved. She fully intended to swim to Port Black and stake her claim to rule.